It appears to me that db4570 is uncomfortable carrying any handgun with a round in the chamber. No matter how many safety features it has.
That being the case, his only option is to carry an empty gun, and hope If it is ever needed he can load it in time.

So, this is basically the Internet mantra of, "If you don't have one in the chamber, you might as well not have a gun."

As with the OP, I was actually surprised how many reasonable responses there were before this one. This is a touchy topic, and I've seen it degenerate very quickly.

An unchambered gun is better than no gun. If you can't get past the mental block of carrying a gun with a round in the chamber (condition 1) and the only other option is not carrying at all, then carry unchambered. I don't recommend it, I won't do it, but I also am well aware that having a gun (in any condition) is better than having no gun. The irony here, though, is that because you aren't 100% comfortable carrying a gun with a round in the chamber, you are less likely to have an ND as a result, because you're going to be more aware of the fact.

The thing to remember is that you need to be fully aware of all the limitations of carrying an unchambered gun. You need to practice drawing and racking. You need to practice racking with only one hand (and practice this with both left and right hands).

You had mentioned this in your original post:

Quote:

Second, I am rarely in a place where I feel I need fast-draw instant-access, like being jumped. Instead, I have been places where it looked like something weird might be going down, and it was nice to have a gun as a last-ditch backup plan. The difference getting a shot off in two seconds instead of one second hasn't seemed to enter into the equation. Third, the chances of being shot or otherwise injured so I couldn't rack the slide with my free hand seem extremely remote.

The problem with this thinking is that in most cases, you are attacked quickly, and in a place you would least expect it. I've had 2 close calls in the last two years, once when I was attacked while in my car (long story) and I wasn't carrying, and the other I wasn't attacked, but an incident occurred that was so peculiar, that I couldn't think of any other reason this person acted the way they acted unless I was being targeted, and only my aggressive stance and verbalization kept him from doing something stupid (I wasn't carrying because I was on a Disneyland vacation with my family). Both were places I would never have expected it to happen, and in both cases, it happened so quickly that I had little time to react. In the first instance, my only reaction was to step on the gas, and get out of there, but if I couldn't have done that for some reason, I likely wouldn't have had time to get to my gun before the guy was bashing in my window (if I had been carrying). In the second instance, the range was so close that I would have probably had to fight him off with my weak hand while drawing, if it came to that (if I had been able to carry).

My point being, don't think that by being in a safe place that you're actually safe, and that you'll have time to react.